Owings Mills, MD - Cairn University dropped their season-opener to Stevenson University 68-56 but worked hard defensively throughout and gave the Mustangs a challenge. The Highlanders open their season 0-1, while the Mustangs improved to 2-0 so far in 2014.
 
JD Zamroz led Cairn in scoring with 21 points in the game and was followed by Reuben Lacy with 20. Lacy also came down with 11 rebounds and one block. As a team the Highlanders took high-percentage shots, converting 50% from the field and 33% from three-point range. Darius Walker led the Mustangs on the offense with 16 points.
 
Cairn held an early lead in the game at 5-2 after a long-range shot by Zamroz. Stevenson then went on a 10-0 run to build a 12-5 lead. The Highlanders came right back to re-take the lead with an eight-point run of their own at 13-12.
 
The Highlanders played solid zone defense against the Mustangs and were able to throw them off their rhythm. Cairn's passing wasn't as clean as Stevenson's, which led to some unforced turnovers but they made up for it on the other side of the ball.
 
Lacy brought the lead out to 15-12 with a 12-foot jumper. Cairn saw the lead again in their hands with the score at 21-20 and 24-23. In between those points, Walker finished an alley-oop for Stevenson over the back of Lacy to fire up the crowd.
 
Stevenson controlled the game for the remainder of the first half and the teams headed into the locker rooms with a 33-27 advantage to the Mustangs.
 
Zamroz and Lacy continued to put up points in the second half and both kept the score close with shots from beyond the arc. With the lead at 46-38 for the Mustangs, Kyle Bonner made an impact with two baskets in a row and cut the lead to 46-42.
 
The Mustangs increased their lead to 53-45 on a three-pointer by Colby Giacubeno mid-way through the second half. The clock ran for the next four minutes with no scoring and helped Stevenson maintain the lead through the end of the game.
 
The largest lead of the game for Stevenson was 15 towards the end but Lacy hit a free throw and a jumper to bring it down to 12 before the final horn.
 
Overall, Stevenson took advantage of the situations they were given – 28 points were scored off of Cairn turnovers. The Mustangs committed 13 turnovers but the Highlanders only scored eight points off of those opportunities.
 
Jordan Sharpe and Omar Askia chipped in with five points and three rebounds each.
 
The Highlanders will look to get into the win column when they face Muhlenberg College at their Scotty Wood Tournament on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.